Students’ awareness, knowledge of, and attitude towards National Health Insurance (NHI)

M.Com. (Business Management)The success of National Health Insurance (NHI) according to literature depends on a number of factors; this includes awareness and knowledge of the benefit of the policy by the public, and the increase and equitable utilisation of the healthcare facilities once the policy is promulgated into a law. The aim of this study is to provide insight into what the effect of government communication and public debate has been on creating awareness and building knowledge on the NHI subject amongst university students, and to establish the attitude and readiness status of students to utilize the NHI platform to access healthcare service. A cross-sectional, descriptive, empirical survey was conducted amongst a sample of one hundred and thirteen (n=113) students at the University of Johannesburg to address the research questions. The survey used self-administered questionnaires to gather primary quantitative data. This study deployed rigorous statistical analysis that included both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses methods. Findings from this study revealed that the majority of the students are aware of NHI; albeit possess a low level of functional knowledge on the subject. The majority of the students prospectively show less preference to use NHI to access health compared to using medical aids, and this is more apparent amongst the male students. From this study, undergraduates show more preference to use NHI over medical aids to access healthcare than postgraduate students. This insight about university students will inform policy makers and businesses on how to develop communication and engagement strategies geared at achieving success on NHI development and healthcare access. The study acknowledges the limitations of a small sample size, and the influence of the respondents’ family socio-economic standing on their attitude to NHI as a healthcare access platform